On October 20, 2003 Kirk Jones of Canton leaped from the railing along the Niagara River in Ontario, Canada and became the first human to survive the 300-foot drop over Horseshoe Falls with nothing but the clothes on his back. Jones poses at Terrapin Point on the American side of Horseshoe Falls in August 2004 in Niagara Falls State Park, New York.(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

A Michigan native, and the first person to have survived an unprotected plunge into Niagara Falls, is believed to have died on April 19 after a second attempt at plunging into the same falls, according to the Associated Press.

The body of 53-year-old Kirk Jones was recovered from the waters under the falls on June 2, the AP reported.

The AP said the apparent stunt with an inflatable ball might have also involved a boa constrictor, which hasn’t been found, but an empty snake cage was found in Jones’ parked van.

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On October 20, 2003 Kirk Jones of Canton leaped from the railing along the Niagara River in Ontario, Canada and became the first human to survive the 300-foot drop over Horseshoe Falls with nothing but the clothes on his back. Jones poses at Terrapin Point on the American side of Horseshoe Falls in August 2004 in Niagara Falls State Park, New York. Chip Somodevilla, Detroit Free Press

During one of his first visits back to Niagara Falls State Park in August 2004, Kirk Jones poses for a photograph with Brandon Wagner of Long Island, New York. Wagner's mother, Margie Wagner takes the photo. Chip Somodevilla, Detroit Free Press

Kirk Jones lays at the shoreline at the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after surviving a plunge over Niagara Falls, with only the clothes on his back to protect him, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Monday, Oct. 20, 2003. Terry McMullen, Associated Press

Kirk Jones waits at the shoreline at the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after surviving a plunge over Niagara Falls, with only the clothes on his back to protect him, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Monday, Oct. 20, 2003. Terry McMullen, Associated Press

Kirk Jones is assisted by rescue personnel at the shoreline at the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after surviving a plunge over Niagara Falls, with only the clothes on his back to protect him, in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Monday, Oct. 20, 2003. Terry McMullen, Associated Press

Kirk Jones of Canton, center, speaks with media after his brother Keith Jones posted $1000 Canadian bail at the St. Catharines Courthouse in St. Catharines, Ontario, on Thursday, October 23, 2003. Kirk Jones survived his leap into Niagara Falls on Monday. Sylwia Kapuscinski, Detroit Free Press

During one of his first visits back to the falls, Kirk Jones takes a first look at the sign that will hang near him while he signs autographs at the Fallside Marketplace in August 2004 in Niagara Falls, New York. Chip Somodevilla, Detroit Free Press

Kirk Jones, who survived an unprotected plunge over Niagara Falls, leaves court in St. Catharines, Ontario, after he was fined $3,000 ($2,260 USD) Dec. 18, 2003, and ordered to stay out of Niagara Park for a year. Dan Cappellazzo, Associated Press

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Jones’ first plunge was in 2003, when he slipped into the Niagara River and was carried over and under the falls in an apparent suicide attempt.

Jones of Canton Township began to seriously consider the idea after a family visit to the falls eight weeks prior to his plunge in 2003. At the time, Jones — who said he felt like the “loneliest man in the world” — was never married, unemployed and full of regret.

There was a moment when Jones was close to climbing back to safety and forgetting the whole thing. But then he heard a woman asking him if he was going to jump. It triggered something in him, and he responded, "I think I will."

He was sucked into the current, and refused to look at the shore because he didn't want the panicked faces in his memory.

He somehow survived the 167-foot plummet and submersion in the frigid river, and felt cleansed afterward.

The plunge brought him fame, a $100,000 contract to join the circus, and a meeting with his boyhood idol Alice Cooper.

"I think I left a lot of my problems on the bottom of the gorge that day," Jones told the Free Press at the time.

On April 19, the same day Jones is to believed to have died, tourists spotted an 8-foot plastic ball spinning in the Niagara River rapids before it went over the brink, the AP reported.

The Niagara Gazette reported that after Jones’ death, the New York State Park Police found a website featuring a photo of the falls and a picture of Jones and the boa constrictor, Misty.